It was an exceptional case for me with new Korean drama Crash Course In Romance. I started it and didn’t continue after first few minutes because it wasn’t capturing my interest. Then next day, I decided to give it another try because it was a drama I wanted to watch since its announcement. What a great decision! Because after watching the first two episodes, I’m in love.

About

The drama stars Jung Kyung Ho as a popular Mathematics instructor Choi Chi Yeol in a private coaching class and Jeon Do Yeon stars as a former athlete and a single mother Nam Haeng Seon who now runs a restaurant. Both of them start off on a wrong foot. She does not know that her daughter actually aspires to study math in his class.

Thoughts

The drama is funny as well as surprisingly poignant. The present day of our leads is full of funny hijinks but as we see glimpse of their past, we realise that their journey consists of loss, heartbreak, struggles and sacrifices. It makes for a great story because the show can make you laugh out loud and it also makes us understand and sympathize with these characters.

Choi Chi Yeol is charismatic and passionate about his work. But in personal life, he isn’t social and does not believe in relationships. He is also vulnerable and suffers from stress, insomnia and eating disorder. We are yet to get a full picture of his past. Then there is Nam Haeng Seon who is hard working, full of energy and a confident woman who tries her best to support her family that also includes her brother Nam Jae Woo (played brilliantly by Oh Eui Shik).

Shin Jae Ha plays Chi Yeol’s thoughtful and devoted assistant.

The leads’ absolutely different personalities and background makes us wonder how would they meet and how would they fall in love. The whole sequence — of their first meeting, argument and the consequent efforts by him to hide from her — is so much fun to watch. A heartwarming connection forms between the two as he enjoys food for the first time in a long time when he eats her restaurant food, picked by chance by his assistant.

Crash Course In Romance also portrays different types of mothers trying to book a seat for their children in the aforementioned class and their ways of parenting.

There is also lovely, real friendship between Haeng Seon and her school friend and now restaurant employee Kim Young Joo. Their interactions are so candid and natural.

I’m not really a fan of a side plot involving a stalker and maniac who is trying to harm people around Chi Yeol. My guess is it has something to do with his past which involves a student’s death.

Jung Kyung Ho is nailing it with his amazing comic timing, with showing emotional range too in certain moments. Jeon Do Yeon is so natural and understated in a role that could be easily played with overacting but she makes Haeng Seon such a cool character.

First Impressions

All in all, lots of fun and lots of warmth in the premiere week of Crash Course In Romance.